The external appearance of modern produce tells you very little about what’s inside.

Big Corporate Agriculture grows its produce all over the world, usually wherever they can get the job done the cheapest. So the produce has to be able to survive at least a week, and sometimes months, of travel and storage before it gets to a grocery store.

The result: Big Ag has focused on developing produce varieties that have a long shelf life and are tough enough to withstand lots of the rough handling. Nutrition and flavor are not Big Ag’s priority, even when the label says...